


Fireside

by AliceB132



Category: Les Misérables (TV 2018)
Genre: Bittersweet, Comfort, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Gen Work, Sadness, Short & Sweet, Wistful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 11:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17786501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceB132/pseuds/AliceB132
Summary: Valjean ponders his relationship with Cosette





	Fireside

Cosette had said this house was like a prison.  He closed his eyes as the thought of her words wounded him all over again.

She had grown up so quickly.  The child was now a young woman, but she was still that little girl in his heart.  That tiny, trusting bundle, even after all that she had been through.

Those early days, when she would wake from dreaming, her tears and her upset were like knives in his heart.

He had been reading by the fireside on one of those nights.

Something made him look up and he saw Cosette standing in the doorway of her room, Catherine in one hand, her blanket trailing behind her in the other.

He swept her into his arms and drew the blanket snuggly around her.

“Another bad dream, little one?”

She nodded and wiped a tear from her eye.  It was such a childlike gesture, there was such innocence within it, but the cause of it was such cruelty, he felt like he might break into pieces.

“Let’s sit by the fire, get you warm.”

He sat with her curled up on his lap.  “Were you standing there for long?” he asked.

“For a little bit,” she said.

“I don’t want you standing in the cold,” he said, gently. “Always come in if you’ve had a bad dream.”

“It’s scary.”

“I know.”  He gave her a hug and she looked up at him.

“Do you have bad dreams, Papa?”

His eyes shone in the firelight.

“Sometimes,” he said, emotion closing his throat.

Cosette reached up and wiped his tear as she had done her own.  He kissed her little hand.

“We don’t have to be scared anymore?” she asked.

“No, you don’t.”

Cosette snuggled deeper into the blanket.

“Tell me the story about the candlesticks, Papa.”

He looked down at her.  “That one again?”

“Catherine likes it.  It’s her favourite.”

He settled back in the chair, holding her tightly and began.

“Once upon a time, in the village of Digne, there lived a very kind man…”

***

Despite the terrible things she’d suffered, the young woman she now was had held onto all that innocence.

Would he ever be able to show her the truth of the world, when her life with him was founded on a lie?  Was this why he had been so angry with her in the park?  In wanting to protect her from the cruelty of the world, was he also protecting her from his lies?

He looked up to the mantelshelf and asked the Lord for guidance.

“Papa?”

He looked around and saw Cosette hovering in the doorway.

Valjean smiled at her softly.  “How often have I told you about standing in doorways?”

Cosette smiled back.  “Lots.”

She knelt beside his chair, the blue satin of her dress liquid in the firelight.

“Cosette, I didn’t mean to hurt your arm today.  Did I mark you?”  He couldn’t bear to think that he may have.

“No, Papa.”  She showed him her wrist.

He took her hand in both of his.  What was he to do?  She knew so little of his life, she knew a storybook version, told in a way so as not to scare a small, damaged child.

“I don’t do these things to hurt you.”

“I know.”  She sighed.  “But I can’t live my life behind a locked door.  I can’t.”

“I don’t know how else to keep you safe,” he said, tears welling in his eyes.

“Oh, Papa!”  Cosette squeezed his hand.  “Don’t cry.  I’m almost grown up now and I just want to see the world.”

He nodded to himself, at the truth of her words and in acknowledgement of a decision he had just reached.

“I know, little one.”

Cosette looked up at him.  “Little one?”

He smiled at her.  “Little one,” he said, with a sadness in his heart for what tomorrow might bring.

She smiled back, then rested her head on his knee.

They sat there for some time, in comfortable silence, in the glow of a crackling fire.

* * *

 


End file.
